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Monday, May 8, 2017

Last fall's World Cup of Hockey might be the last edition of that tournament for a while.

TSN's Gord Miller reports that in the event that the National Hockey League Player's Association reopens the current collective bargaining agreement in 2020 - when both the NHLPA and National Hockey League have opt-outs - a return for the tournament that fall is unlikely. The current CBA is set to expire in 2023.

The reasoning behind that thinking is that a repeat of 2004 is to be avoided.

After Canada's triumph over Finland in the gold-medal game in Toronto on September 14, the NHL locked out the players on September 16. The lockout would drag on for over 10 months and wipe out the 2004-05 NHL season.

While a lockout in 2020 is not a certainty, the spectre of one does loom large.

Last December, the NHLPA rejected the league's offer of tacking an extra two years on the current agreement in exchange for participation in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Olympic participation, contract length and escrow could all be points of contention if the current CBA is, in fact, re-opened.